International media reports say a suicide bomb attack at a voter registration center in Dashte Barchi, a heavily Shi'ite-populated area in western Kabul, on April 22 killed at least 57 people and wounded 119 others, although officials said the death toll could rise.
According to the BBC, the dead include 21 women and five children, killed when the blast hit the queue outside. A further 119 people were injured.
Children were standing in line with their parents waiting to register when the bomb went off on Sunday morning.
Reuters says a bomber on foot targeted a crowd that had gathered to pick up national identification cards.
The Islamic State (IS) terror group said it had carried out the attack.
Members of Afghanistan's Shia Muslim minority have been targeted by IS militants for their religion in the past.
It was the deadliest blast in Kabul since about 100 people were killed in January by a bomb concealed in an ambulance, and it came after repeated warnings that militants could try to disrupt the election process.
Several attacks have already been reported on registration centers since the process began on April 14 ahead of long-delayed parliamentary elections scheduled for October. That vote is due to be followed by a presidential election in 2019.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack but said it “cannot divert us from our aims or weaken this national democratic process.” .
U.S. Acting Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said in a statement on April 22 that he “strongly” condemned the attack and extended the U.S. government’s “deepest condolences to the families of the victims who have suffered an immeasurable loss,” according to Reuters.
UN chief Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack, saying those responsible for planning it must be brought to justice. "They must not be allowed to succeed in deterring Afghan citizens from carrying out their constitutional right to take part in forthcoming elections," he said in a statement.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, who heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said the attack “appears to be part of a wholly unacceptable effort by extremists to deter Afghan citizens from carrying out their constitutional right to take part in elections.”
